An El Paso doctor has agreed to cough up a substantial sum to the tune of $468,000 to settle allegations that he was involved in a hospice care kickback scheme. Dr. John Patterson, the physician in question, found himself at the center of a civil claim under the Federal False Claims Act, a situation where the United States government alleged he had wrongly received kickbacks from Nursemind Home Care Inc. in exchange for wrongly certifying patients for hospice care. These patients, it was claimed, were not eligible for the services they were signed up to receive.
The allegations went deep, suggesting that Dr. Patterson had caused the improper submission of false claims to federal healthcare programs. In doing so, he not only breached the trust placed in him as a healthcare provider but also implicated himself in potentially worsening the burden on the healthcare system. Despite the weight of these claims, the doctor earned a slice of leniency by agreeing to cooperate with further investigations, which, according to the U.S. Attorney's office for the Western District of Texas, included testifying truthfully in any resulting criminal prosecutions.
Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman didn't mince words when she said, "My office will hold providers accountable, both through the civil and criminal process, when they attempt to defraud federal healthcare programs and the American taxpayer," as obtained by the U.S. Department of Justice. The case against Dr. Patterson coincides with the criminal prosecution of Ms. Zenia Chavez, the former owner of the home care center involved in the kickback scheme, who has pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy related to illegal remunerations.
Government officials, particularly from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) and the FBI's El Paso office, have been clear in their condemnation of such activities. Special Agent in Charge Jason E. Meadows described the emotional and financial cost of these schemes as "reprehensible," while his FBI counterpart, Special Agent in Charge John Morales, expressed a firm commitment to "go after individuals who seek to enrich themselves by jeopardizing the healthcare of Medicare beneficiaries and defrauding American taxpayers," as per U.S. Department of Justice. The settlement was negotiated by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eduardo Castillo, signaling the government's serious stance on healthcare fraud.
